Download The Beardless Warriors: A Novel of World War II fb2

by Richard Matheson

Genre Fiction

Author:

Richard Matheson
ISBN:

0312878311
ISBN13:

978-0312878313
Genre:

Fiction / Literature
Publisher:

Forge Books; First edition (May 4, 2001)
Pages:

320 pages
Subcategory:

Genre Fiction
Language:

English
FB2 format

1145 kb
ePUB format

1724 kb
DJVU format

1587 kb
Rating:

4.5
Votes:

372
Formats:

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As a World War II novel, or a novel of any war for that matter, it is one of the best.

As a World War II novel, or a novel of any war for that matter, it is one of the best. But his style is worth mentioning.

The Beardless Warriors book. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Start by marking The Beardless Warriors: A Novel of World War II as Want to Read: Want to Read savin. ant to Read.

The Beardless Warriors is a 1960 World War II novel by American writer Richard Matheson. It was based on his experiences as a young infantryman in the 87th Division in France and Germany. Set in late 1944 Germany, during the assault on the Siegfried Line, the novel follows 15 days in a US Army Rifle Squad led by the venerable Sergeant Cooley. Everett 'Hack' Hackermeyer, a troubled 18-year-old from a hellish family upbringing, is just one of several teenage soldiers.

The Beardless Warriors: A Novel of World War II. by Richard Matheson. The Beardless Warriors are a squad of teenage . In 1944, long before he wrote such classic novels as I Am Legend and What Dreams May Come, author Richard Matheson served as an eighteen-year-old replacement in the 87th Division during the latter part of the war in Europe. infantrymen fighting their way across Germany during the final weeks of the war. Under fire and in over their heads, the fresh-faced young men must grow up fast if they ever hope to see home again.

The Beardless Warriors. A Novel of World War II. Richard Matheson. Everett Hackermeyer is the latest soldier to join the squad, "Hack," a troubled youth from a hellish family background, faces a new kind of inferno on the front lines, only to discover hidden reserves he never knew he possessed.

The Beardless Warriors" gives a very clear picture of what WWII GIs faced, but it is not celebratory in the least. It demonstrates the true meaning of war at the lowest level. The soldiers fight not for the country, but for each other. If you want to learn about soldiers and the profession of arms, this is the book to read. The military books about the generals and admirals cannot convey real combat operations as Mr. Matheson does. This books makes you feel the deaths.

He then entered the military and spent World War II as an infantry soldier. Three of his short stories were filmed together as Trilogy of Terror, including "Prey" with its famous Zuni warrior doll. In 1949 he earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and moved to California in 1951.

Long out of print, Matheson' acclaimed novel of World War II was inspired by his term of duty in the war. "The Beardless Warriors" are a squad of teenage infantrymen fighting their way across Germany in the final weeks of the war. Inexperienced and over their heads, they must grow up fast to survive. Publishers Weekly,Originally published in 1960, this early novel by bestseller-list veteran Matheson (What Dreams May Come; I Am Legend) was probably inappropriately classified upon its original publication as just another post-WWII potboiler.

Matheson's first novel to be published, Someone Is Bleeding, appeared from Lion Books in 1953. In 1960, Matheson published The Beardless Warriors, a non-fantastic, autobiographical novel about teenage American soldiers in World War II. It was filmed in 1967 as The Young Warriors though most of Matheson's plot was jettisoned. During the 1950s he published a handful of Western stories (later collected in By the Gun); and during the 1990s he published Western novels such as Journal of the Gun Years, The Gunfight, The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickok, and Shadow on the Sun.

In 1944, long before he wrote such classic novels as I Am Legend and What Dreams May Come, author Richard Matheson served as an eighteen-year-old replacement in the 87th Division during the latter part of the war in Europe. His tour of duty there inspired this acclaimed novel about a group of equally young and inexperienced soldiers thrown into the fury of combat.

The Beardless Warriors are a squad of teenage U.S. infantrymen fighting their way across Germany during the final weeks of the war. Under fire and in over their heads, the fresh-faced young men must grow up fast if they ever hope to see home again.

Everett Hackermeyer is the latest soldier to join the squad, "Hack," a troubled youth from a hellish family background, faces a new kind of inferno on the front lines, only to discover hidden reserves he never knew he possessed. Ironically, he doesn't come to value his own life until he runs the very real chance of losing it.

Westened

It’s December, 1944, and within the span of twenty days, an eighteen-year-old boy turns from green combat replacement into battle-hardened veteran. The things he sees, the actions in which he engages, forever change Private Everett Hackermeyer. The young American questions life, questions death, and questions just what the hell he’s doing mere miles outside the fictional German town of Saarbach.

It’s been awhile since I’ve read a book that chokes me up, but as I neared the end of The Beardless Warriors, it took some effort to hold back the tears. Richard Matheson, probably best known for his science fiction work (I Am Legend as well as writing for film and television), strung together the right words to cement the gravity of the material.

Young Hackermeyer joins a squad of fellow beardless warriors, each with their own distinct personalities, fears, and backgrounds. We see some fall to appendicitis and exploding mortars. We also see some make it through, though hardly unscathed. One thing is for certain: everyone is remade by the events.

The relationship between Hackermeyer and his proto-father, Sergeant Cooley, is one that will be hard to forget. Maybe it sparked thoughts of my relationship with my own father (a Vietnam veteran), or reflections of my journey into fatherhood. Whatever the reason, even as I write this review, the power of Matheson’s story still haunt me. I can only imagine experiencing what these soldiers did, and I hope that I will only have to imagine it. I’m no longer of that ripe combat age, but it does make me nervous for my son’s future.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a pacifist and neither is Matheson, but the horrors of war are real and it may be that The Beardless Warriors is the author’s way of spreading his own experiences to those who may be privileged enough to live far from those realities. It did, after all, take him fifteen years after his own experiences to write this.

If you’re looking for a breezy read, you’ll probably want to look elsewhere. But this book was powerful. I can’t recommend it enough for those that want a page-turning, fictional experience.

Altad

If it wasn't a fictional account of the experiences of a rookie replacement in WWII; it would have been one of the best accounts of the Second World War. This is a war story from the point of view of a private in combat; nothing is glorified, just the plain miserable lifestyle of a dog face soldier. A young replacement, straight from boot camp, is thrust into the maelstrom of battle, and has to adapt immediately to survive, in a group of individuals who don't seem to care an iota about him. Compounded by the fact that he is a troubled loner (he carries a great deal of domestic psychological baggage), he reluctantly becomes involved with other members of his squad; hardening his resolve to survive as he watches newer arrivals he has become acquainted with die in combat. His saving grace is the relationship he develops with his father figure squad sergeant.
If you have any interest in WWII, this book is must reading!! I have read it a number of times, and can't put it down.

Fenius

This is a wonderful WWII War story. I have read dozens of them & this is one of the best - the most personally involving as any I have read. The only problem was a little too much repetition. The character development of the protagonist was excellent, as was the other men. However I would have liked a little more in depth development of some of them instead of the repetition of Hackermeyer's thoughts & description of the surroundings. The fears of so many of those young boys was hard to read but I am sure it was like that although most books don't get into all that for obvious reasons. This is a truly exceptional book.

Bloodhammer

This is the first book I've read by Richard Matheson, but it isn't the first novelization of an author's experience in World War II that I've read. As a World War II novel, or a novel of any war for that matter, it is one of the best. As a Matheson novel, I can't say until I've read more, but of course, this book inspires me to read all I can get.

I won't go over the plot or characters - that is for the reader's enjoyment, the delight of discovery. But his style is worth mentioning. Although some would say it is merely straightforward, it is really much more complex. Matheson's choice of telling this very personal story in a third person narrative is genius. Even in 1960, self absorption and self imortance emerged as the natural offspring of self awareness in fiction. As "self" asserted its place as the center of the universe, fictionalized personal accounts became almost exclusively first person tales. It is so prevalant now it is hard to imagine a time when such accounts were rare. Matheson purposely uses the third person effectively to maintain an esthetic distance to his story in general and the main character (Hackermeyer) in particular. Knowing that he waited 15 years to write this novel, Matheson obviously needed an outsider's perspective to understand the young man he was, the things he did, and the tragedies he witnessed. He made it more personal by relating it in the third person.

Like any great writer, Matheson puts us in the story as he takes himself out - his journey become our journey. This is where the third person technique works its magic - a character isn't telling us how he feels or how we should feel, we experience those feelings through that character. We discover things as he does - this is especially true when Hackermeyer is looking for Cooley in the hotel/hospital. Only after we have finished the novel do we understand it has been a cycle - arrival, initiation, trial, and triumph. When the cycle is complete - the novice is now the teacher and the cycle resumes.

As Hackermeyer becomes more "human" and less a killing machine, he becomes as vulnerable as those he had disdained, but also becomes aware of the emotions he's hidden from himself. He feels a greater kinship to those who have died and in living, he is able to tell their story. Matheson allows us to relive it in the telling. This is one to pass along to your kids and grandkids.

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